Saturday, June 22, 2013

Searching for Sugar Man

Searching for Sugar Man is a documentary telling a moving story of a musician, Rodriguez, who made two albums in the US in the early 70s which didn't sell.

However, they became gigantic hits in South Africa. He had no idea of his fame in that country, where it was rumored that he had committed suicide on stage. His South African fans, who listened to his albums for decades, comparing it to Abbey Road, knew nothing about him.

Then two journalists decided they wanted to find out how Rodriguez died. In the process they discovered he was still alive and living in obscurity in Detroit.

The documentary includes long stretches of his music (which I'm listening to now on Spotify) which is bluesy and folksy with strong lyrics. I think I now consider myself a Rodriguez fan.